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“What is a positive student?”, “How can we be responsible citizens?”, “Am I a buddy or a bully?” and “What can we do to become more and more responsible in our daily lives?” These are some of the questions Grade 4/CM1 students asked as they inquired into Positive Citizenship Week. They brainstormed ideas on how to show unity and friendship and started drawing a mural showing children holding hands and balloons filled with positive thoughts and expressions. The vibrant mural stands on the wall of the CM1 class corridor.

A comprehensive program of activities and guest speakers was prepared to keep students reflecting on what makes a “global citizen”. One of the main presenters during this week was Dr. Fadi Maalouf, Vice Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Director of Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry at AUBMC.

During his talk to grade4/CM1 and grade5/CM2 students, Dr. Maalouf introduced listeners to the exact definition of bullying. Then, he elaborated on the motives that push bullies to intentionally harm others and the people that they usually target. In his interactive presentation, Dr. Maalouf helped students differentiate between situations when certain acts would be considered as “jokes” and other instances when they would be classified as bullying. Dr. Maalouf guided students to what they need to do in case they feel that they are bullies or they are being bullied. Finally, the presenter warned his audience about the dangers and effects of cyber-bullying on all the people involved in acts of online bullying.

At the lower cycle, students invited the counselor as a guest speaker to help celebrate Positive Citizenship Week. Miss Ghania Kabbara focused on bullying. The students watched a “Brain Pop” video describing the elements of bullying, then engaged in conversation identifying and understanding what bullying truly means. Students then reflected on how they can take positive action toward stopping bullying behavior.